BECOMING BROTHERS OF JESUS CHRIST

TUESDAY, TWENTY FIFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

Prov 21:1-6,10-13; Ps 119:1,27,30,34-35,44; Lk 8:19-21

God’s Word makes us children

Today's readings extend our consideration of God working through everything in nature to reveal his holy will to us. We have noted how God works in the natural ordering of things. Hence, a man who observes and learns from natural proportionality in desire and operation is already learning from the heavenly wisdom. The passage from Proverbs extends this divine presence to the will and activities of a king. Since leadership or rulership is a natural thing, it follows also that God uses the leader or ruler of a people to publish his will to those under him. “Like flowing water is the heart of the king in the hand of the Lord, who turns it where he pleases.” Notice that the author made no distinction between good and bad kings. This distinction is irrelevant to God’s employment of men’s hearts. Like the way God makes the sour and the sweet grape, he has use for each of them. He uses the bad and the good ruler to bring about his divine will for the people. His ownership and knowledge of the hearts of kings do not imply undermining their freedom of will and action, for each receives the reward for his actions. This same applies to both the ruler and the ruled. Hence, it is said: “A man’s conduct may strike him as upright, the Lord, however, weighs the heart.” He weighs our hearts because his ever-present word knows whether we are acting in good faith.

The man who follows the dictate of reason in all things, whether natural or civil, lives virtuously. “To act virtuously and with justice is more pleasing to the Lord than sacrifice.” A virtuous man obeys the king as he would the Lord, except when he rules contrary to right reason. He understands that he is a slave of righteousness, even when he rules others. We must never remove ourselves from the Lordship of God. That is the source of sin in the human heart. “Haughty eye, proud heart, lamp of the wicked, nothing but sin.” The man who lives with care for the dictates of reason would be blessed in his undertakings because he works hard in what is most important in life. The necessary hard work for us humans is to cultivate a virtuous life. It requires thoughtfulness and careful execution of life ventures. “The hardworking man is thoughtful, and all is gain; too much haste, and all that comes of it is want.” Walking the way of virtue was harder when there was no marked path to travel. But it is made easy by the incarnation of the Eternal Word of God, who is the way, truth, and life. God has revealed the way of holiness to everyone through the Gospel.

The aforesaid hard work and difficult journey lead to communion with God, for the path of wisdom leads to immortality. The path is open to everyone endowed with reason. The privileged starting point anyone has is hearing the word of God, published through creation, the law, and the prophets, and in our day, through the incarnation of the Son of God. The Psalmist declared those happy who are making progress on the path of holiness through meditation on the word of God. “They are happy whose life is blameless, who follow God’s law! Make me grasp the way of your precepts and I will muse on your wonders.” The Lord affirmed the same happiness in the gospel when he praised spiritual affinity to his person over carnal affinity. Someone informed him about his mother and brothers' desire to speak with him. “But he said in answer, ‘My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and put it into practice.’” The greatest happiness we can ever attain is to share in the life of God. This communion is what the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ offers us. It is the greatest gain in life for the faithful. Let us give our time to read, meditate, and contemplate the word of God.

Let us pray: Grant us, Lord, the grace to understand the infinite riches contained in your word which has been given to us freely and without restriction, that reading and meditating on the revealed truth, we may come to the contemplation of your heavenly glories.